


School Days

by sg_wonderland



Series: Days series [7]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 12:44:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8162440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sg_wonderland/pseuds/sg_wonderland
Summary: Daniel heads to school





	

**Author's Note:**

> From what I can find out, Colorado law actually doesn’t require a child to begin attending school until the child is seven years old. I sort of bent that a little for this story.

It wasn’t the way Jack really wanted to spend a sunny Saturday in late May, taking Daniel to be tested for school. He’d put the decision off as long as possible but his back was quite literally against the wall. Daniel would have to be in some type of school this fall since he would turn six in July. Be that public, private, home-school, he was going to have to go somewhere. 

A serious and long-running discussion between the adults in Daniel’s life, i.e., Jack, Frasier, Bennett and General Hammond resulted in the decision to try private school. Hammond was the one who suggested the school where his youngest granddaughter, Kayla, was going, it seemed the child was scarily gifted in mathematics and wasn’t being challenged at public school. His other granddaughter, he explained with a twinkle in his eye, would be lucky to graduate at all; she had airily pronounced school as boring.

So, with the general’s help, they had procured a testing slot for Daniel along with an interview with the school’s principal.

*

“Colonel O’Neill? Please come in, have a seat. And I assume this is Daniel? I’m Dr. Arthur Whitcliffe.” His eyebrows arched at Daniel’s expression. “Is something wrong?”

“Jack said I was going to school, not to another doctor.”

Whitcliffe grinned. “I’m not that kind of a doctor. I’m a doctor of education. That means I’ve gone to school for a very long time. So you want to go to school here at Briarwood?”

Daniel looked at him seriously. “I don’t really want to go to school anywhere but I’m almost six so I have to.”

Whitcliffe perched on the edge of his desk. “Why don’t you want to go to school?”

“I’ve never been to school and I don’t think I’ll like it.” He was unequivocal on that.

“Why don’t you give us a chance, you might get to like us. We’ve got some tests we need to give you, even though I’ve been told you’re very smart, we still like to see for ourselves. So, Ms. Lynsey here is going to take you into another room and ask you some questions. We’ll be right here when you’re done, alright?”

Daniel sketched a slight smile at Jack before he preceded the woman from the office.

“So, Colonel, I’ve had several conversations with Amy Thornton. She only had good things to say about Daniel. She seems to think he is quite gifted, if her assessment is accurate.”

Jack sighed. “I’m afraid it is. And I’m not just saying that because he’s mine.”

“His vocabulary seems quite good, usage, sentence structure. And he seems very polite, quite mature.”

“Beyond his years. Dr. Whitcliffe, I need to ask you some questions about your security here.” The campus had looked like he’d expected it to, mellowed brick buildings, immaculate lawns, flowering trees.

“The entire campus is fenced in. We have guards at every gate, every visitor signs in. We have and enforce a very strict policy of who picks up children. You provide us with a list of everyone who is authorized to pick up your child. Parents, even those who come every day, must produce a picture ID and sign their children out. No one just pulls up and blows the horn, Colonel, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“Sorry.” Jack offered a weak apology. “Daniel, he’s a bit special. We have a legitimate fear for his safety.”

“If we accept Daniel, I’d be happy to have you come out by yourself one day and let me show you our security. I understand you have legal guardianship. Can I ask about his parents?”

“His mother was killed in an accident; his father was recently listed as MIA with the Air Force. Daniel is still in counseling. I’d prefer if your staff didn’t broach the subject with him.”

“I’m so sorry. It’s hard for anyone, isn’t it, let alone a child. Before the school year starts, we have extensive training with our teachers and staff. We have several children who have experienced severe trauma; unfortunately, we’ve had to become accustomed to coping with those types of situations.”

The talk centered on security, curriculum until Jack started to relax just a bit. They were at the point of winding down when Daniel was led back into the room.

“Hey, kid.” Jack hugged him to his side. “Pass your test?” Daniel just shrugged.

“Daniel was very well behaved, Colonel.” The woman smiled at him. “I certainly hope we’ll be seeing more of him. If Daniel would like to step out into the lounge, I’d be happy to share my results with you.” Daniel agreed so he was settled in the room where Jack could see him through the windows. “Colonel, I don’t suppose I have to tell you how extraordinarily gifted this child is. His language skills surpass those of most college students. How many languages does he speak?”

“At least six that we’re aware of; English, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, Arabic. There could be more, we just haven’t found out yet.”

“We can certainly test him for other languages. I suspect he might be able to learn a new language quite rapidly. His math skills are also above average, although not quite on the level with language. Ms. Thornton says he’s made some remarkable strides with his social adjustment.”

“Had a bit of a problem with that at first. He was raised in Egypt, mostly with adults. Not a lot of kids around so he struggled with that. Still relates much better to adults than other children.”

“He’s very bright, very articulate. Dr. Whitcliffe, I would recommend that we consider Daniel for Briarwood. I think it would be a good fit all around.”

“Let’s have Daniel back then and we’ll talk.”

*

“So, Daniel, what did you think?” Jack inquired as he unlocked the door.

He shrugged slightly. “I suppose it will be alright. You said General Hammond’s granddaughter goes there?”

“Kayla, yes, that’s right. The general wants us to come to dinner tomorrow so you can meet her and Tessa. If I can’t come to school to pick you up, Nancy, that’s the general’s daughter, is going to take you home with her until Fraiser or I can get you. Okay?”

“I guess.” Daniel was clearly unenthusiastic about the whole school thing.

Jack automatically checked the answering machine as they entered the living room. “Mom.” He winced as he looked at the ID. He punched the machine, to hear his mother inform him that she and his father would be in Colorado tonight for a visit; they made a habit of popping in at least once a month to see their new grandchild, usually without informing Jack ahead of time. One of these days, he thought ruefully, they were gonna catch him gone through the gate and Daniel at Fraiser’s house. Knowing his mother, she was more than capable of simply fetching Daniel from wherever he was.

“Hey, kid, looks like your grandparents are on their way down. Guess that means we have to cook dinner, huh?”

Daniel flung himself face down on the couch, mumbling into the cushions. “We can just wait till Grandma gets here and let her cook.”

“I like your way of thinking.” He jogged up to the kitchen.

“Uh, Jack?” 

“Yeah?’ Jack had his head stuck in the freezer, wondering what he could thaw out for dinner.

“How are we going to General Hammond’s tomorrow if Grandma and Grandpa are here?”

“Shit! Oh, sorry.” Jack had made a concerted effort to curb his language around Daniel. “I’ll have to call Hammond.” He did so and the general pronounced himself glad to have Jack’s parents for dinner as well, assuring him that it would be no extra trouble.

*

Jack’s parents arrived that evening and proceeded to make a fuss over Daniel, who acted like he didn’t like the attention but secretly did. He had been the only kid at daycare without grandparents and now he could boast that he, in fact, did have grandparents. “Dad, he’s got legs, you’re gonna spoil him.” Jack scowled at his father who had barely given Daniel a moment’s peace.

“Go help your mother and leave us alone. Daniel and I are bonding.”

 

*

Dinner had been eaten, dishes washed and put away when Caroline caught her son’s attention. “Jack, your father and I have something we want to talk to you about.”

“Okay. Do I need to send Daniel out of the room?”

They both looked over at the child, snug in his grandfather’s arms. “I’d hate to break that up. And actually, Daniel is part of what we want to talk to you about. Michael and I want to move here, to Colorado Springs.”

Daniel shot upright. “Move here?”

“Yes, dear. Jack, we know you need help with Daniel and we’ve talked about it and we want to do this. We could take Daniel to school, pick him up, and be there for school activities. The rest of the grandchildren are older and, frankly, they don’t need us as much as Daniel does.”

“Mom, that’s a pretty big step. Are you sure?”

“Positive. We can keep the house in Chicago, for awhile anyway, and see how it works out here. We can rent an apartment or a small house here. So, Daniel, what do you think?”

“I think it’s great! When can you move?” Daniel’s eyes were big with excitement.

“As soon as we find a place down here. Barb has agreed to take care of renting the Chicago house. We can probably be settled here in a month or so, certainly before your birthday.”

*

It was General Hammond who took Jack aside after dinner and suggested letting Jack’s parents move into Daniel’s house, pointing out that it only made sense. Jack had kept Daniel’s house, and had toyed with the idea of renting it out. His parents needed a place to live; the house was still fully furnished, albeit stripped of Daniel’s personal possessions.

So the next day after dropping Daniel at daycare, Jack took his parents to see the house. Caroline pronounced it sweet and just enough house for the two of them. The fact that the kitchen in the bungalow had been completely refurbished was one of its main selling points for Daniel and she quite agreed with him. The bedrooms were small; cozy she would have called them. 

The only trouble was that his parents insisted on paying rent. Jack adamantly refused since that would essentially make Daniel his grandparent’s landlord, something Jack thought was just wrong on so many levels. They finally came to the compromise of Michael and Caroline depositing money in a savings account for the child. Even that, Jack had to admit, was weird. But Daniel couldn’t remember the house so it wasn’t like going over there would invoke bad memories.

So his parents had packed up their Chicago home and settled in Colorado Springs while Daniel tried to ignore the ever-looming beginning of school. This suited Jack just fine. They had all summer to ignore it together.


End file.
